CHARLOTTE – Heading into the upcoming 2021-22 men's basketball season, Virginia Tech's Mike Young, Keve Aluma and Justyn Mutts spoke with the media about their excitement for the season at ACC Tipoff, the league's media day. Read what they had to say below.
HEAD COACH MIKE YOUNG
On the evolution of the ACC and the coaches:
"I played Coach three or four or five times when Coach Williams was kind enough to come to Spartanburg for crying out loud. Are you kidding me? Who does that? Yeah, they beat us. That was our first game in 2018-19. But as I told someone earlier, the league continues to evolve. I great things with Dean Smith and Terry Holland and all those great coaches, and now through Coach Krzyzewski and Coach Williams, Coach Hamilton, it will continue on. Those guys are special men and special coaches, program developers. But the Atlantic Coast Conference will continue on. There will be other really remarkable coaches, as well."
On what makes Justyn Mutts such a special player:
"He has as high of a basketball IQ as I've been around in 36 years. He's a dynamic athlete. He came to us as a good basketball player, but he's grown by leaps and bounds through his game, his ability to shoot, and his ability to make plays off the bounce. I think that before the end of the year, he will be a borderline elite defender. He can guard 1 through 5 at times. Justyn Mutts was probably the key to our year last year. As good as Keve was, as good as Wabissa Bede was. Justyn Mutts is a difference maker. Let's put it that way. Probably could have said that and been done with it."
On Keve's growth since Wofford:
"He was a little -- he'd probably tell you that I'm a little overweight right now. He was a little overweight coming out of high school. He was relatively new to the game. The intention was to redshirt him. His mom kind of insisted on that. After a couple of weeks I called his lovely mom, Bethany, and said, 'Bethany, with your blessing, I'm not going to redshirt him. He's going to help us win games', and he did. He didn't play a lot. Probably played 10, 15 minutes a game, but he helped us win. He was a significant contributor. I wasn't expecting him to start his sophomore year. We had a kid get hurt shortly after coming back from Europe during the summer and I was in a bit of a bind. Little did I know the answer to the question was there in our program. I played Keve at the 4 and another young man, one of the best front lines I've ever coached, Cameron Jackson from Winchester, Virginia. Now we've both come to Virginia Tech and he had the opportunity to sit out. They'd all benefit from sitting out. They don't think so, but he had an opportunity to not worry about playing to get bigger and stronger. He's as big and strong as I've ever seen him right now, and he's in better condition than I've ever seen him. What he did to his game -- now, our coaches did a great job, but the lion's share of that tip of the cap goes to him. He put the licks in. He shot and he shot and he shot. It wouldn't surprise me in the least to see both of these guys over 40 percent from three this year. Their numbers last year were a bit pedestrian. I knew that when Keve came to Virginia Tech the worst-case scenario was that he was going to be a terrific defender and rebounder. He was that for me at Wofford. We played Kentucky in the second round of the NCAA Tournament and he had 12 rebounds, maybe 13, and he belonged on that floor. To see what he's done in our time at Virginia Tech, this will be his third year. He sat out the first, so it'll be his second year playing, is nothing short of amazing to me. I can't say that I'm shocked because of who he is how passionate he has become as a basketball player, but I think it goes without saying that I feel like a lucky human being to have had the opportunity to coach him."
FORWARD KEVE ALUMA
On the electric atmosphere of Castle Coliseum:
"I did get to see it that first year but it was different because I wasn't actually suited up and ready to play. But I'm excited for this year to be able to have all the fans back and get to play in front of them."
On being a consistent starter for Mike Young:
"It's really important to be able to be a starter for Coach Young and just help the team win, because at the end of the day that's all I want."
FORWARD JUSTYN MUTTS
On improving your shooting in the offseason:
"Yeah, I would say the main thing is just reps. Keve and I work out a lot together, so being able to get in there, work on our jump shot, and work on our form as much as possible so the coaches are able to dissect it, break it down, and really help us to bring it back up. Also, people care about our mental health. They are building up that confidence in us, and that's honestly what makes a great shooter, that confidence. I feel that's been the main thing for both of us but honestly that's all of our team. Everybody's confidence has gone up so much since last season, so it's going to show on the court."
On the cohesion of the team:
"Yeah, I think we have great players and even better individuals. These guys are great at basketball but they're even better at carrying themselves as people. All of that stuff goes into how you perform in the season, especially down the stretch. It's all the small stuff that adds up that builds a great team."